A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Fighting
news fatigue
I
t can be exhausting trying to
keep up with the news.
It can make you seasick
trying to concentrate on
everything speeding by the
transom.
It’s enough for many people
to throw their hands in the
air. A new malady has been
coined — “news fatigue” —
this feeling that you cannot
keep up with the steady stream
of important information
emanating from journalists
the world over. The news
is depressing and nausea-
inducing, and that’s no way
to start the day. To combat the
symptoms, many citizens are
finding themselves pushed to
make a choice.
First, they can convince
themselves that the fire hose of
news isn’t important — you can
check out and not care about it,
and all will be fine.
Or they can take the route
of believing there are vitally
important updates and critical
things happening every day that
they must stay apprised of, but
their own mental and physical
well-being requires them to take
a step back and clear their head.
Or, they can just take the
tack that everything they
don’t want to hear is fake,
allowing only one person or
group to dictate the terms of
reality. That’s the laziest and
simplest route, but to many it
offers the veneer of peaceful
understanding.
Sure, we’re in the news
business — it benefits us for
people to pay attention.
But we’re first and
foremost citizens. And we
know the danger that comes
when powerful people and
institutions attack the news,
purposely try to confuse and
overwhelm their constituents
and try to numb them with
scandal after scandal until none
are remarkable enough that
they incite the public to demand
accountability. It’s a way to get
away with anything, this slow
spread of news fatigue disease.
As David Frum, the political
commentator and former
speechwriter for George W.
Bush, said recently in an
interview: “If your child is
feverishly ill, it can be very
fatiguing to take care of her.
But it’s what you do, because
that’s your duty ... if your
country is ill you have the same
responsibility.”
Part of the reason why
“news” seems overwhelming,
and some are trying to shirk the
responsibility of understanding
it, is that many people no
longer agree on what “news” is.
A recent poll conducted by
the Associated Press-NORC
Center for Public Affairs and
the American Press Institute
noted that most readers and
journalists agree on what they
want from journalism — news
stories that are factual and
offer context and analysis. Yet
most of what people absorb,
via social media or partisan
talking heads on television, or
via 280-character tweets, does
not offer clear facts and clear
context. Absorb too much of
that and the brain decides to
close down and give up.
There is a real joy of a few
days of vacation, to check out
of the news stream. That may
be necessary to our mental
health.
We know time away from
the fusillade is important, and
useful. But we urge you to
jump back in, to remain vigilant
and knowledgeable about the
problems affecting our nation
and the progress made by it.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Dr. Pendyke’s miracle salve
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Mirror mirror on the wall, what
the heck happened? This is not what
adulthood looked like in the bro-
chure!
I’ve reached the age where look-
ing in the mirror is like checking the
news. I know there will be some new
developments I won’t like: crows
feet, new wrinkles, more white hair.
Actually, that’s not quite the truth.
While I don’t spend long in front of
the mirror — I have never given my
wrinkles more than a cursory glance
— they are just smile memories,
character lines. They define my jour-
ney — although recently that journey
has been bombarded by expensive
skin care products.
“What do you use for your daily
skin care routine?” queried a per-
sistent salesperson.
“Baby wipes, bull grease and
sweat.” I grinned.
She looked horrified. “On your
face?”
I smiled. “Arms, legs, face—
wherever.”
While she was racking her brain to
decide what sales tactic is supposed
to follow that response, I quickly
made my escape.
The next time, however, I wasn’t
so successful. At a dinner party, I
found myself trapped at a corner ta-
ble with an extremely persuasive
multi-level salesperson. No matter
where the conversation went, she
adeptly steered it back to the skin care
product she was selling. Guaranteed
to lessen wrinkles, tighten your skin,
make it less puffy, clear up age spots
— basically work miracles — which
it should for the price.
“I don’t mind wrinkles,” I
laughed. “I don’t even own an iron
— why should my face get more
special treatment than my clothes?
Although climbing in the dryer with
a wet washcloth and coming out
wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller
doesn’t sound too bad.”
Usually sarcasm is my life ring out
of these situations, but this salesper-
son didn’t even blink. When the other
two people at the table pulled out their
credit cards, I tried to
sneak away. But a
well placed hand on
my arm and sudden-
ly I felt a guilty ob-
ligation to open my
wallet and purchase
Brianna
my very own bottle
Walker
of miracles.
Several weeks
later, our family was curled up in
front of the TV, eating popcorn and
watching “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Opie and his friends were trying to
sell a miracle salve that didn’t work.
Barney decides to help Opie get his
money back by pretending to be Dr.
Pendyke, DVM, who wants to buy all
the salve the company can get back
— because it cures “the mange.”
“Why look at that,” my husband
poked me in the ribs and, in the fal-
setto voice of Dr. Pendyke, began,
“Look here at this miracle salve. For
the low price of the cost of an airline
ticket, you can buy this cream that
will do nearly everything — it even
cures the mange!”
I rolled my eyes and tried to ig-
nore him. But it was hopeless.
As if being suckered in to buying
the expensive “miracle salve” wasn’t
enough, my husband made sure to
poke fun every chance he got. If he
saw me going to bed at night without
putting it on, he appeared horrified.
“Oh no!” he would exclaim. “I
think I see new wrinkles! Maybe we
need to get you more miracle salve
to stop them!” Or he saw me apply
it, he would sigh with exaggerated
relief. “I am so glad you are putting
that cream on. I thought I detected a
hint of mange yesterday! Oh, come
on, laugh,” he snickered. “That was
hilarious!”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m laughing
on the inside — so I don’t get more
wrinkles,” I snorted, as I threw the
bottle of miracle salve at him.
Recently, we were enjoying the
sun on the white, sandy beaches of
the Caribbean — perhaps a little too
much, as our noses were peeling a bit.
One afternoon while downtown, a
well-dressed young man stepped out
of a beauty shop. “It looks as if you
could use some skin care,” he smiled,
and I self-consciously touched my
peeling nose. “Come, try a free sam-
ple.”
I thought he had meant for my
peeling skin, but before I had ful-
ly comprehended the situation, the
young man was applying serum to
one of my eyes. “Your skin could be
so beautiful. It just needs a little extra
care,” he smiled. “Don’t worry,” my
sarcasm defended, “my other face is
in the photoshop.”
He looked at me curiously, but to-
tally missed my sarcasm as he held up
a mirror and exclaimed, “Wow, wow!
Just look at that difference. Why, you
look at least 15 years younger!”
I looked in the mirror. One eye
looked tired and puffy. The other eye
looked tired and puffy and covered in
a sticky goop.
My husband smirked at me, but
before he could make even one silent
miracle salve reference, the young
man had smeared the serum on one
of his eyes too. “Look at that! You
see that? Wonderful, amazing! And
10 years younger without a surgical
face lift!”
I looked at my husband’s face.
Bright raccoon eyes from his sun-
glasses were very visible, but try as
I might, I couldn’t see any differ-
ence where the gloppy serum was.
“All these beautiful results for only
$1,099!”
My lips twitched up — a thousand
dollar cure for the mange. The young
man mistook my smile for approval.
“Would you like a bottle for each of
you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know,
honey, Dr. Pendyke has us on a pret-
ty strict skin care regimen of baby
wipes, bull grease and sweat.”
We backed up, trying to retreat.
The young man started after us, and
we practically tripped over ourselves
to get away.
My husband laughed as I began
smearing the sticky goop off my eye,
and in Dr. Pendyke’s falsetto said,
“Amazing, just amazing. Not only do
you look 15 years younger, but I think
you finally got rid of the mange!”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoflong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370,
Prairie City 97869. Phone: 541-820-
3605. Fax: 820-3566. Email: pchall@
ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www.
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised
Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone:
503-986-1730. Website: www.oregonlegis-
lature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@
oregonlegislature.gov.
An education on
the dark side of
technology
To the Editor:
Kudos to the Eagle for the May
9 issue heading “The dark side of
technology.” Its hidden effects on
society today frequently go unno-
ticed until it’s too late. Our young-
er generation is certainly addicted
to high tech as evidenced by the
amount of time it consumes on a
daily basis.
Keizer Police Sgt. Trevor Wen-
ning made a solid argument for
parents to educate themselves and
ensure oversight on what their
children are doing with the smart-
phones they have provided.
We are fortunate Todd McKin-
ley and Cindy Tirico of the Grant
County Probation Department took
the time to arrange Sgt. Trevor’s
presentation. Even those of us ig-
norant of smartphones enjoyed the
education.
Fred Fitzgerald
Monument
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............ ..................... C HRIS R USH , CRUSH @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM
E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA P ERKINS , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
Voice opinions
on forest plan
To the Editor:
I understand that the Blue
Mountains forest plan revision will
be released on or before Friday,
June 29. While my public com-
ment was shouted down by staff
of the Wallowa-Whitman Nation-
al Forest Supervisor’s Office, and
neither mine nor any other Eastern
Oregon citizens’ comments were
responded to over the last four
years, it will be interesting to see
what the path forward looks like
in northeastern Oregon for public
lands, and how the U.S. Forest
Service plans to allow us to use
the mountains we love.
Once the plan is released,
commenters on the Draft Envi-
ronmental Impact Statement from
2014 will have 60 days to file an
objection with the Forest Service
on the Final EIS. Also, if new in-
formation is found in the plan, or
a substantial change is found in
the Final EIS, you will also have
an opportunity to file an objec-
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710
tion. Along with the formal objec-
tion process, you also can file as
an “interested person,” and there
will be a 10-day period to make
this request after objections have
been filed. An “interested per-
son” is someone who may or may
not have objected or commented
during the forest plan and amend-
ments process, but who has an in-
terest in supporting or opposing a
submitted objection.
After watching the meetings
and the treatment of residents at
these meetings, I can understand
why folks chose to remain silent.
Forest Service staff yelling and
belittling residents, former Forest
Service staff doing the same. Envi-
ronmental groups name calling and
yelling during “facilitated” meet-
ings, while subsistence users of
the forest tried to politely articulate
their concerns, only to be demeaned
and belittled.
You will have a chance to have
another voice; I would simply ask
that you do so.
John D. George
Bates
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2018 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication covered by the copyright
hereon may be reproduced or
copied in any form or by any means
— graphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, taping or
information storage and retrieval
systems — without written
permission of the publisher.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews